Games without Rules: The Often Interrupted History of Afghanistan

by Mir Tamim Ansary

How would I compare the US involvement in Afghanistan to the Soviet one? I gave the answer I had given often in America: I saw disturbing parallels. The United States seemed to be sinking into the same morass as the Soviets. The United States had made commitments it could not easily keep for practical reasons and could not easily back out of for political reasons. The United States was squandering lives and money in Afghanistan without being able to explain exactly why. The United States was able to control the cities but could not seem to quell a rural insurgency carried out by people who believed themselves to be acting in defense of Islam.